Quartile rating: 8/10 · 1 rating
In 1970s Hollywood, Detective Philip Marlowe tries to help a friend who is accused of murdering his wife.
Altman's radical deconstruction of the Chandler novel and classic noir genre earns it exceptional marks in cinematography — Vilmos Zsigmond's constantly drifting, zooming camera is genuinely singular — and in novelty, as the film's laid-back, anachronistic reimagining of Marlowe as a confused, mumbling relic in 1970s LA is unlike any other noir adaptation. Gould's performance is quietly brilliant and distinctive. The plot, however, meanders deliberately and can frustrate, and the ending — while shocking and thematically pointed — feels abrupt and somewhat unearned on a narrative level, keeping those categories from the top tier.